ArthurJGuy

I have had my truck for a few years now, and I absolutely love it still. It already has remote start, however one of my gripes is that at my office I'm often out of range to start my truck and let it warm up. So my curiosity here is how I can use a cellular signal to remote start my truck, and then tie that into my Amazon Echo.

The remote start command will come from IFTTT, to a cheap android device connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data that I will leave inside the truck at all times. Alexa will also be able to trigger that IFTTT command if needed. That parts easy.

The android device will be connected to an Arduino via USB, and use tasker to listen for that specific push notification, send the request to the Arduino, and then based on engine RPM send me back a push notification to my phone if the command was successful or not. This is also not an issue.

The complication comes in interfacing with the factory key fob. I have a software development background, so i understand how these fobs work, and trying to emulate one is all but impossible. However, I'm strongly considering getting a third fob to program, and dissecting it to connect the buttons to pins on the Arduino.

Before I go down this rabbit hole, I'm curious if anyone has ever dissected one of the fobs, or perhaps knows of any schematics of the circuit board itself.

Thanks.

roadPilot

You can install a couple of OEM aftermarket items to allow your truck to be started via your cellular phone and the Ford app. Not sure if anything is exposed (by Ford via their servers) to support IFTTT, but at least you can remote start from your phone over cellular:

http://www.levittownfordparts.com/fo...ss-p-2272.html

You'll need these two:

DL3Z-19A390-B
DL3Z-19A361-A

Then $50 a year for the data plan.

This is documented in various places on the forums.

ArthurJGuy

I'm not really interested in paying $400 + $50 a year for a solution that doesn't do what I want it to, when I can do it for under $100 and no recurring cost and control every aspect of it.

Thanks though.

Ricktwuhk

Sounds interesting. FYI, you can buy the two items stated for $300, I just did. But it's still $49.99 a year.

Please post back if you do figure this out. I'd also be interested in the security aspect of it.

ajsturtz

I think you have the best answer already, to use a third sacrificial fob and pin it to Arduino. It isn't as elegant of a solution, but it eliminates the requirement of intersecting the communication relationship between the fob and truck.

ArthurJGuy

I'll definately keep updates. I've looked into that also, and the request will have to have a specific string from a specific address, and I may add two factor authentication also.

Right, it's the only logical way that I can see to approach it. My confusion isn't with the logic itself, it's with the fob.

Spiky

Forgive me, but isn't a connected device about $15/month? ($10 +taxes) That's the cheapest I've found outside of special deals like the Ford remote access. It sounds like a cool project, but I think within two years the OEM solution is cheaper.

ArthurJGuy

Depends on your carrier.

For my carrier a data only sim card is free, and it just shares your data pool. For as little data as this device will use, I should never even notice it.

Then there's also the whole thing that the OEM solution doesn't do what I want it to.

Spiky

What other features are you planning?

Ricktwuhk

I have little expertise in this area, but my son setup our 10 year old sprinkler system with an Arduino, and for security he put a certificate on each of our devices, and we got free IP addresses from No-IP (have to renew them monthly when it reminds you). If the device (phone, tablet, computer) doesn't possess the security certificate, then it won't connect to the sprinkler system.

I asked him to do the garage door openers and some temp sensors at a cottage, but he had lost interest after the first go round.

Don't know if that helps or not.

If you do use a sacrificial fob, make sure you mate it to the truck FIRST. They can be programmed via process in the manual.

Your other challenge, which I'm sure you realize is the amount of juice that it draws. These trucks already have parasitic draws in them. In fact, the OEM cellular device will shut down after 72 hours of inactivity, and you have to send a wakeup call to it and possibly wait 12 hours for it to wake up to be used. This is for this very reason. The battery monitoring system cuts power all over the place if it notices low voltage.

Get Alexa to answer in a female voice. Then you can say "fire me up, baby" and she can respond inappropriately back...